Sugar and sunshine for New York City after Hurricane Sandy.
Friday night I flew in NYC with an idea. I was going to bake hundreds of cookies, and write thank you notes to deliver to the hurricane relief workers and volunteers throughout the city. I am a firm believer in little actions making a big difference, and I think it is so important to love on the people loving people. Many of these volunteers are running on little sleep, yet they continue to selflessly serve the people of this city.
I got into Manhattan and met my two amazing friends Jackie and Geci at their UES apartment. My friend Una also met up with us (after she had been working all day at the hospital!!!), and we initiated "Operation Bakefest 2012." The girls asked me what my plan was and my response was "Bake cookies and love people." Apparently, this was not a plan this was an idea, as the girls informed me that we would need a PLAN in addition to the idea. This is one of the many things I love about my friends. Jackie and Geci who work in the financial district, Una who is a doctor, all have amazing planning, logistical brains...something I am severely lacking in. I like to think that my brain is full of glitter, and kittens, and sugar, and rainbows. Needless to say, the girls came up with a plan, and a list of places we would deliver the cookies to the next day.
After staying up until 5:00am baking over 275 baggies full of sugar and sunshine for NYC relief volunteers, we were ready to take on the world. We went on a mission to find gas for the car, so that we could deliver all of the baked goods to shelters in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Excited and full of anticipation, we figured that it would take a few hours of waiting in line for gas, and we would be on our way to spread love and sugar throughout the city. 7 hours and about 10 gas stations later however, the car was still running on empty. The gas situation in NYC after hurricane sandy hit is no joke.
Undaunted by our failed attempt to fill the car up with gas, we took to the streets around 9:30pm and walked to the shelter at John Jay and another shelter at Hunter. When we gave the night shift volunteers the cookies and thank you cards, the entire day was soooo worth it. We told them how much we love them and how much we appreciate them for volunteering. The couldn't believe that we wanted to give themsomething. It just goes to show how selfless these volunteers really are. Once again, I think it is so important to serve the people serving people.
Our "plan" for the day may not have been what we expected, but at the end of the day, volunteers ...Sugar and Sunshine is being restored to NYC one way or another.
Thank you so much Una, Jackie, and Geci for riding this one out with me. And thank you so much to the people over at Kind Over Matter for your amazing kindness printables. We used your card drops and wrote thank you notes on the back, to staple onto the baggies.
